1779 - Peter Roget was born London (d. 1869). English physician and lexicographer who, in 1814, invented a "log-log" slide rule for calculating the roots and powers of numbers (Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases -1852).

1782 - Daniel Webster was born in Salisbury, New Hampshire (d. 1852). American statesman, lawyer and orator.

1813 - Joseph Glidden was born (d. 9 Oct. 1906). American inventor; he was an Illinois farmer when he developed the design of the first commercial barbed wire, patented 24 Nov 1874, a product that would transform the West.

1825 - Sir Edward Frankland was born (d. 9 Aug 1899). English chemist who was one of the first investigators in the field of structural chemistry, invented the chemical bond, and became known as the father of valency.

1892 - Oliver Hardy was born in Atlanta, Georgia (d. 7 Aug 1957). American comedian and actor. Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy formed the most successful comedy act in Hollywood. Among others, they played in the films Duck Soup (1927), The Battle of the Century (1928), Two Tars (1928) and Big Business (1929). In 1932 the pair was awarded an Oscar for their performance in The Music Box.

1919 - World War I: The Paris Peace Conference opens in Versailles, France. One the very day and the location of the founding of the German Reich, the peace conference intended to end WWI was opened in the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles. Delegates from 27 Allied countries conferred about the future of Europe.